President of the Republic of Srpska attends the ceremony on the occasion of the Day of the Army of the Republic of Srpska and Day of the Third Infantry (Republic of Srpska) Regiment

The President of the Republic of Srpska Željka Cvijanović attended the ceremony in Banja Luka on the occasion of the Day of the Army of the Republic of Srpska and the Day of the Third Infantry (Republic of Srpska) Regiment.

The Republic of Srpska President welcomed members of the Third Infantry Regiment (Republic of Srpska) of the Armed Forces of BiH with a traditional Serbian military greeting “Pomoz’ Bog junaci” at the army review at the Kozara barracks.

The President of the Republic of Srpska said that the Republic of Srpska Army was formed as a national army whose goal was not to permit the relentless mass calvarias which Serbs suffered in the World War II but also to defend Srpska as a place where new generations would live in freedom.

“The price we paid for this freedom was too high and that is why today, with special respect, we remember those who gave their lives and parts of their bodies for the freedom we enjoy today”, said the President Cvijanović in her address at the ceremony.

The President of Srpska recalled that during the war, more than 23,000 soldiers were killed and that it is a permanent obligation to keep a memory of the heroic path of the Republic of Srpska Army, but also to preserve Srpska, its competencies and constitutional capacity, to further develop, build, regulate and improve it so that these victims would not be fallen in vain.

“Srpska is a symbol of our freedom, life, safety for our citizens, and it is therefore important that we all, regardless of our position, act on peace, stability, preservation of the capacities and identity of the Republic of Srpska, aimed at cooperation with everyone in BiH, but that we always know where we belong and that it is important for us to act together”, said the President of the Republic.

According to her, dates such as the Day of the Republic, the Day of the Army, the Police Day and many others that gather us are important, but it is equally important that the gatherings constantly happen, on a daily basis, and on all important topics of relevance to Srpska and its future.

“We must not allow our everyday life or routine obligations to make us dull or make us incapable of seeing or recognising all the real challenges we are facing or not becoming aware of and not react to the attacks that continually affect the status, characteristics and identity, but also the attacks on the constitutional and functional capacity of the Republic of Srpska”, said the President Cvijanović.

The President of the Republic of Srpska assessed that, unfortunately, this is the environment in which we live and that many of the consequences we all face today are a result of the inability to recognise traps, it is often naivety, since we believe that we are all equally oriented towards coexistence, agreement and building the trust.

“With the attacks and the challenges we face, it is clear that this is not the case. We want peace and cooperation with everyone and we want the environment in which we carry out our everyday tasks to be relieved of political pressures, but unfortunately it seems that not everyone in BiH is equally committed to such an approach. It is therefore important that we cooperate closely, that we are together, and that we are always gathered around the interests of Srpska, as we do today. Long live the Republic of Srpska.”, said the President of the Republic.